The Dartmouth Alumni Council gathered for its spring meeting on May 15, the first virtual meeting in its 107-year existence. In addition to the Council members, 80 former Councilors joined the meeting, a record number. MALS '20 alumna Ellie Nan Storck introduces the two Alumni Council Representatives for the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies: Lily Kabeche Guarini '13 and Phil Privitera '90, Guarini (MALS) '93.
For more information about the Alumni Council meeting held in May, including details on the Career Support Challenge issued to all Dartmouth alumni, click here
Lily Kabeche, Guarini '13 , completed a PhD in Biochemistry in Dr. Duane Compton's lab in 2013 as part of the MCB program. "I studied the mechanisms that regulate the attachments of chromosomes to the mitotic spindle, and how mis-regulation of this can promote cancer progression," she explained in a recent interview. Now, Kabeche is an Assistant Professor at Yale University in the Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry Department. She also sits on the Dartmouth Alumni Council as a representative of the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, and has done so since 2018.
"I really loved my time at Dartmouth and I wanted to continue making it a wonderful place for graduate students to come. Serving is my way of doing that," said Kabeche. "I am interested in helping in any way that I can to promote and support the Graduate School and their goals."
As the world currently navigates a strange new landscape in the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kabeche is a true heroine, juggling raising a four-month-old baby while continuing her professorship at Yale. "These times are really hard, and I'm still trying to find my own balance on this 'new-normal,'" she said. "I've found that for me, blocking some time, usually an hour of the day, to do some self-care—exercise, go out for a run, walk, or bike—helps me be a lot more productive during the rest of the day and be more creative."
In terms of her advice for current graduate students, Kabeche encourages those working hard at research to focus on the good things. "In general, my advice is to celebrate the great successes, the experiments that worked, the perfect western blot band…and learn from the mistakes and the 'failed' experiments—but never let them make you feel like a failure. You are not defined by the experiment that didn't work, but will be defined by your drive and tenacity."
In discussing her dedication to the Council, Lily took a moment to reflect on her time at Dartmouth, and her favorite memories in the community. "I spent a lot of my time with the lab, and I have so many awesome memories of dressing up for Halloween (we dressed up like the Jersey Shore cast one time, and another we dressed up like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves), celebrating papers and accomplishments, and making videos like "The Ro-dating Game" and "A Day in the Life of Spot," she reminisced. "The dynamics of the lab when I was a grad student is really one of the things that I most hope I can bring to my own lab now."
With tenacious and devoted alumni like Kabeche serving on the Dartmouth Alumni Council, there is no shortage of substantial progress that can come from such a collaborative effort.
Philip Privitera is no stranger to lending his skills and dedication to his current and former communities. A proud Dartmouth '90 and MALS '93 graduate, he currently sits on the Dartmouth Alumni Council as a representative of the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies—and this is just one of a myriad of contributions on his impressive philanthropic résumé. "I know I will only live once, and I plan to make the most of every minute," he wrote to me in a recent email.
After his successful time in the MALS program, Privitera attended Boston College Law School. Here, he became the American Bar Association President of his class and the National Director of the American Bar Association's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. He now sits on the BC Law Alumni Board as treasurer.
His children—no surprise—are promising academics themselves: his son studies at Colby College in Maine (Privitera also sits on the Parent Executive Council here), and his daughter is a rising junior at Newton Country Day School Prep in Massachusetts.
Currently, Privitera is a practicing attorney, owns a real estate investment firm, and sits on multiple boards and councils for charitable and community-serving organizations.
One of those organizations is, of course, the Dartmouth Alumni Council. Privitera wrote that he feels extremely proud to serve his alma mater. He currently serves on the Sports Committee (fitting, as he walked on to both the crew and hockey teams during his time as a Dartmouth undergraduate). "Being on the Dartmouth Alumni Council has always been a dream of mine which has now come true."